DMS, SIS shine in x-country

Dandan Middle School Tottots and Saipan International School Lady Geckos shone as bright as the Saturday morning sun with their win in the 14U middle school divisions of the first PSS/NMA All Schools Cross-Country 2024-2025 qualifier at the CPA Airport Field.

In the boys division, the Tottots flew to first place with a total of 14 points; SIS claimed second with 23 points; Agape Christian School Torchbearers were third at 38 points; and fourth was Cha Cha Ocean View Middle School Lancherus with 54 points.

The Lady Geckos topped the girls division with a perfect 10 points; second was DMS with 41 points; third was the Lady Torchbearers with 51; and last was Grace Christian Academy Eagles with 55 points.

Cross-country is similar to golf in that the lowest score wins.

In the individual standings, Top 3 in the boys division were DMS’ Yuxi Lu who came in at 14:19. Second was Lucas Yang of ACS at 14:36, and third went to SIS’ Eunchan Ko with a time of 14:54.

Top 3 in the girls division were Saipan Community School’s Alyssa Brasuell with a time of 15:21; second was SIS’ Faith Arriola at 15:54; and third was SIS’ Scarlett Burnell at 16:01.

Lu, in an interview after the race, said that the course was “alright for me. I was able to keep up and finish everything.” From the beginning of the race, he led the pack and stayed there until the end.

In his second year of cross-country, he said, “It was great. It was a challenge and it was fun.” As for coming in first, he said, “I feel amazing. I feel much better than last year and it feels good that I achieved this.”

For Brasuell, she said, “It was tiring but I pulled through it. It just felt like I really tried this time.”

When asked how she felt coming in first for the girls on a hot day, she said, “It feels amazing… I’d rather like to run on a cloudy day though because when it rains, I keep sniffing, and when it’s sunny, it’s just too hot.”

Dr. Ron Snyder, SIS headmaster and coach and meet director, said of the Lady Geckos’ performance, “I like to see that my [middle school] girls still scored a perfect score for the first meet!”

The next qualifier is Saturday, Sept. 14, hosted by Run Saipan at the American Memorial Park; the SIS Gecko 5000 at Banzai Cliff is on Sept. 28; the ISA Invitational with the location to be determined is on Oct. 5; and the championship is set for Oct. 12 at the Saipan Country Club at Saipan Vegas.

Results of the 9U and 12U elementary school divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.